Navajo Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Murder in Fort Defiance

Navajo Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Murder in Fort Defiance

PHOENIX—On Oct. 19, 2015, Corbert Goldtooth, 43, of Window Rock, Ariz. and a member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell to 360 months’ imprisonment. Goldtooth was previously found guilty by a federal jury of second degree murder.

The evidence at trial showed that, in the early morning hours of July 31, 2011, Goldtooth and two other men went to the home of the victim, who was also Navajo, in Fort Defiance, on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation. All three men were armed. Goldtooth stabbed the victim sixteen times, resulting in the victim’s death. Goldtooth had previously been convicted in 2003 for a robbery in Fort Defiance. Goldtooth was a member of the Cobras street gang.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Navajo Nation Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Tracy Van Buskirk and Abbie Broughton Marsh, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.